Better Living Through Chemistry
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: It had all started out innocently, friends unwinding before an event... but the morning after, secrets come spilling out, truths are no longer hidden and just what exactly happened before and after the bonfire is fuzzy.
1. A Hazy Night

_**9/8/15...**_

 _Amanda stopped walking along the beach in Providence when she saw a strange violet light from the lighthouse… she couldn't look away from it, even as she felt Finn's hands rest on her shoulders before his arms wrapped around her waist._

 _When she did snap out of her trance, the light was gone and replaced by the normal spotlight… and Finn noticed that when she looked back at him, she looked a little pale from the startled feeling._

" _Someone was just messing around in the lighthouse, right? The lights they use to guide boats are the normal ones." Amanda said quietly as she turned to him._

" _Massive halogen bulb inside of a spinning mirror, much like old police siren lights…" Finn replied, his right hand gripping onto her left one as his left arm remained wrapped around her lower back. "What's wrong, lass?"_

" _I just saw a strange violet light from there…" Amanda answered, Finn looking back at the lighthouse… but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary._

 _Back at the bonfire, Baron glanced at them before looking at Enzo._

" _Did you spike their drinks?" Baron asked._

" _No, of course not. Why you ask, something seem off to you about them?" Enzo answered._

" _It's just… she was looking quite strangely at the lighthouse." Baron said, pointing towards the lighthouse on the other end of the shore._

" _She was… maybe something startled her…" Enzo said now that he thought more about it. 'Mandy doesn't startle for no reason…' He thought after taking another shot of tequila as Finn and Amanda walked back to the bonfire and sat down._

 _She looked back at the lighthouse, her right hand still in Finn's left one which had the others giving each other curious looks._

" _You two… are oddly close tonight, did something happen earlier?" Enzo asked._

" _No more than anything out of the normal…" Finn answered, him and Amanda looking at each other as Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd played on the nearby radio and Amanda's tousled curls blew back for a few seconds in the slight breeze better her hair settled back and Finn reached over, running the fingers on his right hand through it to gently untangle the slight knots._

 _He had noticed more than he let on but didn't want to scare her…_

 **Present time…**

Amanda was too deep in sleep to be properly aware of all of her surroundings as her legs were tangled up in the bed sheets and an arm was wrapped around her waist… the grip on her was tight but not to the point of hurting her.

Without opening her eyes, Amanda turned onto her right side and Finn brought his right hand up and ran his fingers through her hair, lightly tugging at the disheveled chestnut brown strands as he massaged the back of Amanda's head.

Slowly, her sleepy hazel eyes opened and she looked up, seeing Finn… and looked down, seeing herself in a Balor Club shirt that nearly reached her knees.

"Before you start freaking out, we didn't do anything other than sleep next to each other… you were pretty damn drunk last night, I didn't feel right leaving you alone." Finn said quietly, running his right hand along Amanda's left side.

"I haven't drank heavily in over a year… the last time I did, it led to me running through the streets after the 2014 Royal Rumble without my shirt in 18° weather." Amanda said after waking up completely.

"I never drank that heavily either, not recently anyway… Neither did that girl I noticed, just looked a bit out of place." Finn said in response, Amanda looking at him.

"Someone was watching last night?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah… she hardly drank herself either. Looked out… it looked like she had on some sort of wetsuit or something like it, top and bottom attached and all… wouldn't look out of place closer to the docks, maybe, or last night if she was surfing at the beach." Finn said, Amanda glancing down as she pictured the girl in her head. "And it was like she was hiding it too, she had something like an oversized raincoat over it… and what set her out even more was that she was there… but it almost seemed that she wasn't."

"The mind was detaching… I've lost track of how many times I've done that." Amanda said as she felt the drowsiness fade and the hangover replacing it, burying her head into Finn's shoulder. "I always go straight to the hard liquor after a bad day…" She muttered as she felt his fingers running through her hair.

"We can work out of that habit. These things take time." Finn said, lightly spinning a few strands around his finger into a spiral, before pulling it back and untangling the strands.

Amanda hated having to get up… but they both needed to.

After getting ready for the day, Amanda had finally brushed her long curly hair back into a ponytail before she scrunched it and decided to let it air dry… but Finn could tell that she still got the occasional twinge in her ribcage and left shoulder. Still stood near the mirror, out of the corner of her eye she saw the reflection of a quick, bright flash shining through the door, then heard Finn taking a few steps back from where he'd been.

"What the hell…" Amanda started to ask, trailing off and walking to the door but Finn stopped her. "It wasn't disorienting…" She said but because of her past neurological health, he didn't want her to get too close to anything that could send her brain haywire.

"Just carry on as you were, it's only a… minor thing." Finn said.

Amanda nodded and finished getting ready for her day, neither paying attention to the hallway and Finn walking over to her.

"Again, sorry about how I was last night… I never wanted you to see that side of me, I just went too far last night." Amanda whispered as she felt his arms wrap around her.

"You were in your natural reaction… and quite honestly, I don't mind what side of you that I see. You're all the same inside." Finn replied, the two's eye contact being through the mirror in front of them.

She had noticed the scratches on his neck and he noticed the bite mark on her neck and right shoulder… and it made them wonder just what lines had been crossed last night.


	2. Bits And Pieces

_**Last night, Omni Providence Hotel…**_

" _You okay?!" Finn asked after the elevator had suddenly stopped with him and Amanda in it, the lights having gone out in it._

" _Yeah… damn these things, we should've probably taken the stairs but we're…" Amanda answered as she watched him once her vision had adjusted to the darkened area, her eyes scanning his body. 'Get it together, Mandy, get it together!' She thought, scolding herself for acting like a schoolgirl around Finn right now._

 _Before she could finish what she was thinking, she felt Finn's hands on her, one stroking her hair and the other resting on her hip… she looked up at him as he squeezed it._

" _You don't make it easy for me… keeping my hands off you." Finn whispered as Amanda's tiny hands gripped both sides of Finn's shirt._

" _Then don't…" Amanda said quietly._

 _Within seconds, his mouth was on hers and they were pressed close together as they held each other and the kiss deepened._

 _Amanda felt her heart start to race as she yanked Finn's shirt off over his head and just as quick, he pulled her tank top over her and both items of clothing were tossed into the darkened area._

 _Amanda hissed slightly as Finn's teeth grazed her shoulder and bucked her hips to him, Finn letting out a low growl as Amanda's nails dug into the side of his neck._

 _They didn't notice the elevator start up again or the doors open when it stopped on their floor… but they did hear "Really, you two? People use these to get to their rooms!"._

 _Both turned, seeing Sasha Banks._

" _Sorry…" Both said quietly before grabbing their discarded shirts and quickly exiting the elevator._

" _Had a feeling it was only a matter of time…" Sasha said with a slight chuckle before heading back to her own room…_

 **Present time…**

"Mind still a blur, lass?" Finn asked once they were heading towards the elevator.

"I… remember Sasha yelling for some reason… but that's it." Amanda answered as she readjusted her Balor Club racerback tank top. "I also have a feeling Enzo either didn't know that we were all spiked or he lied to us…" She said as she leaned against the wall for a second, trying to shake off the last of the drowsiness.

"He wouldn't… there's some idiots in this company but Enzo, I can't see him being about to drug up his closest ones, us." Finn said, supporting Amanda as she pushed back off of the wall as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

They walked into it, pressing the lobby button and then the one to close the doors… the doors closed and opened when the elevator stopped on the third floor, an equally hungover Alex Riley getting onto the elevator and the doors closing again.

"You look like hell…" Amanda said as Alex noticed the bandage on her neck and shoulder and the scratches on Finn's neck and let a tired chuckle slip out.

"Have either of you seen Enzo?" Alex asked.

"He should be in the lobby already… why you ask?" Amanda answered, closing her eyes for a few seconds as the motion of the elevator combined with the alcohol from last night started to make her feel sick.

"He was rambling about something at a lighthouse. You okay?" Alex answered as the elevator stopped and the three got off of it.

"Drank too much…" Amanda said, leaning against Finn. Alex would've normally let it drop but he had seen Amanda drink much more than a few tequila shots and not seem this disoriented.

Letting them go on ahead, Alex went to find Enzo as Finn helped Amanda sit down and sat down next to her.

"The lighthouse… I remember seeing something for a few seconds, that's why I walked away from the bonfire." Amanda said once it had hit her, closing her eyes. "It wasn't the kind of lights normally used, this one was a light purple… at first, I thought the alcohol was making me see things." She said after opening her eyes and looking at him.

"Purple… isn't that the colour of that traveller's portals? Livi-something?" Enzo questioned.

The two jumped slightly, Enzo sitting down.

"How long have you been standing there?" Finn asked.

"Longer than you'd probably like… purple light though, I could swear that the time traveller girl you two met and introduced a few weeks ago had portals of a violet-bluish colour." Enzo responded.

"She disappeared right after Summerslam and we haven't seen her since." Amanda answered, Enzo setting a cup of coffee down for her but she lightly nudged it forward. "Not now, buddy." She said.

"Roman said he saw her heading towards the back exit on the last event… said something about having work to do in another century." Enzo said.

Amanda nodded and tried to stand up… but her legs buckled and Finn and Enzo caught her as Colin ran towards them.

"Damn, how much did she drink last night?" Colin asked as Amanda was helped back into her seat and Enzo noticed the scratches on Finn before pulling the bandage off of Amanda and seeing the teeth marks.

"Really, Zo?!" Amanda said after a yelp.

"What the hell got into you two last night anyway?" Enzo asked.

"We don't remember much… why, who's started it off now?" Amanda questioned.

"Who do you think?" Enzo said. "Apparently you agreed to drug each other before you got into the sheets so that you'd not remember it and pass a lie detector test, it's really gotten that ridiculous."

"Lexa overheard Sasha yelling… but honestly, drugging? That is ridiculous." Amanda said as Finn helped her up to her feet and helped steady her.

Out into the city later after eating breakfast, Amanda leaned against the passenger seat and Finn knew what was on her mind.

"The tequila bottles were switched… maybe someone saw it and didn't think much of it, just a few people looking to unwind before getting into the ring in front of thousands of screaming fans." Amanda said after a few seconds while _If You Could Read My Mind_ by Gordon Lightfoot played from the radio at a low volume and Finn rested his right hand on her left shoulder.

"Might've been… yeah, because we didn't leave our drinks to give anyone the chance to drop anything in them." Finn responded.

"Yeah and even if our group had something else in mind, they wouldn't drug us… I feel bad for suspecting Enzo." Amanda replied, stretching her neck for a few seconds as the car reached the arena. "And there they are…" She muttered, seeing the press before trying to open the door… but closing and locking it as some of them jumped at the car, Finn slamming his hand against the car horn.

Running outside, Hunter pulled the members of the press away from the car but in a manner that wasn't aggressive, just as a warning.

"Back up, all of you!" Hunter shouted, the cameramen disappearing before Hunter turned to the two in the car, Amanda hanging onto the car door with one hand as Finn held her other one.

When all three were in the arena, they heard a painful scream.

"I wasn't even at the damn bonfire!" Sasha yelled as blood was being drawn and Amanda looking at Hunter.

"What exactly would the doctors here be looking for?" Amanda asked.

"Anything that could explain the weird behavior from last night." Hunter answered.

"Wait… it wasn't just a small group of us? What else happened?" Finn asked.

"Drug-like symptoms appeared in quite the handful of the roster… and then those cameras appear and it surfaces that someone's started a doping conspiracy." Hunter explained.

"Damn… I feel like I did when I was visiting the shows as a kid and accidentally saw Kurt with that damn Hydrocodone." Amanda mutters, Hunter resting a hand on her shoulder.

"They're not gonna find much in your bloodstream except for whatever you were doped with… right, kiddo?" Hunter asked.

"I don't take anything stronger than Aleve for pain and that's accepted by the Wellness policy." Amanda answered as they headed towards the trainer's room.


	3. Thrown Off Balance

"They've been over there for five minutes and our blood was tested a half hour ago, what do you think they found?" Amanda whispered as she tried not to scratch at the bandage on her arm from where the blood had been drawn.

"Must be something of interest, whatever it means… Maybe they might be able to even trace it back to wherever it came from." Finn said, lightly placing his hand over the bandage and lightly shifting the bandage around a bit, the movement against Amanda's skin providing some relief to the itch.

"Thanks for that… and I really hope that whatever it is in all of us, they find out who slipped it." Amanda said quietly.

The two waited as Dr. Amann walked over.

"Good news is it's just trace amounts now so it's not enough to suspend either of you… but I don't know who keeps Blackbird amphetamines around nowadays." Dr. Amann explained.

"That's going back a few decades…" Amanda said before she and Finn left. "70s drugs? Who's still holding onto drugs from that era?" She asked as they reached the cafeteria.

"No idea, love but I feel like wringing their neck." Finn answered as he pulled Amanda's chair out for her before she sat down and scooted up, Finn sitting down next to her… neither felt like eating now but it was nice to be around each other.

It wasn't long before they were joined by Bayley, whose right arm was bruised from the attempts it took to draw her blood.

"Next time, I'm punching that damn doctor." Bayley said as Finn stood up and pulled a chair out for her before she sat down, scooting up. "You are quite the gentleman."

"Anyone else being drug tested?" Finn asked as he sat back down next to Amanda... before all three cringed when they heard Alexa's shrill painful scream.

"She is." Bayley said, rubbing her ears.

"Does she have a volume knob on her mouth?" Amanda asked, Finn rubbing his right hand up and down her back and lightly massaging her tensed up neck.

"What the hell happened with you two, you've got bites and scratches." Bayley said.

"Being drugged and trapped in an elevator can make people go a bit haywire." Finn explained as Aestrid, taking a break from helping organize production crates, walked into the cafeteria and over to them.

"Morning, Ace." Amanda said.

"Hey… listen, whatever happened, it's okay. I'm not gonna care, whatever went down… you two are who you are." Aestrid said, sitting in a chair.

"We've all done worse…" Amanda responded as she started to feel a little more clear headed.

The four talked for a bit and Alexa eventually reached the cafeteria, rubbing her sore arm before she and Murphy sat down.

"Damn, you two look terrible." Sasha said after a few seconds as it was the table she was at that they sat down at.

"Tell me about it…" Alexa said before dropping her forehead to the table. "They're gonna find some crap in me, I know it." She said in a croaky voice.

"Whatever it is, it made us all go crazy! I don't know how she did it but Carmella ripped a damn table leg off and tried to use it as a sword." Sasha explained, Murphy snickering as he helped Alexa sit up.

"Anyone else go frat party crazy?" Murphy asked.

"Not that I remember aside from Enzo trying to jump off the jukebox when he got back." Sasha answered, holding back a bit as she didn't want to remember more.

Looking across the cafeteria, Amanda saw Baron with his right hand bandaged.

"Anyone see a broken window this morning?" Amanda asked quietly after turning back to the other three.

"Not that I know of…" Aestrid answered before heading to where Baron was.

"How they holding up?" Baron asked.

"Managing by… but the itty bitty things are freaking them out right now." Aestrid responded.

"Same with Tye Dillinger… til I punched him." Baron answered.

"Thomas, what the hell?!" Aestrid asked, Baron knowing he was in for it whenever he was called by his real name.

"He was trying to jump off the hotel itself, convinced he could fly! So I hit him after dragging him off the ledge, knocked him out and left him in his room." Baron explained.

"Damn… were you all dosed with different drugs?" Aestrid asked.

"I think so…" Baron answered.

Out in the parking garage was where Finn had found Amanda after she slipped away from the group to go clear her mind… walking over, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders after sitting down next to her on the production crate.

She looked over at him and smiled slightly as he kissed the side of her head.

"I wonder where she went off to… after she disappeared from the Barclays Center, what exactly had to be done." Amanda said quietly.

"Suppose there's no real way of telling… if she had to go and alter something in the past, how would we know it? Our books and records would be altered, there'd be nothing to tell that events were different. For all we know, she could've gone back to switch which side of the civil war won, we'd never know it was any different." Finn said, his hand resting on her upper arm.

"She could've… if it was her at the lighthouse, she might not have seen us." Amanda responded, stretching her legs out and a 'crick' echoing from her left leg. "13 years later and that still hurts every now and again." She said.

"That was a bad break from what you told me…" Finn responded before they looked at each other.

In the distance, Liviana watched them before they disappeared back into the building.

' _You can't see me… I think you'd kill me.'_ Liviana thought, her vision of them through zoomed in visors in the helmet bolted down onto her. She was in agony inside, numerous rods and clamps were throughout her body yet not one could be seen from the outside of the light and dark grey suit she was in. And she'd scream and cry…

If she actually could.


	4. Second Nature

Amanda finished getting into her ring gear and zipped her Balor Club hoodie up over the leather and lace before she left the locker room.

' _Something doesn't feel right…'_ Amanda thought as she reached Hunter's office… and heard the yelling from him.

Amanda kicked the door open and charged in, Liviana screaming in shock as Amanda jumped on her and put her in a headlock.

"Get the fuck off of him!" Amanda yelled, tightening her grip but it wasn't long before she was slammed right into the wall.

Several of the others jumped when they heard that… and Finn grabbed a nearby shotgun and loaded it, turning to Bayley and Sasha.

"Lock the door." Finn said before disappearing down the hall.

"Enough!" Hunter yelled as he managed to restrain Liviana by putting her against the wall… only to hear muffled growling from within the helmet and jump back as a blue glowing beam was extended from her hand, forming the outline of a burning hot sword, enough that it left scorch marks across the wall where it activated.

Liviana turned to them as Hunter helped a sore and disoriented Amanda sit up… and she stepped back when she saw Amanda's hazel eyes look at her.

"What the…" Amanda tried to ask.

Liviana tried to speak in return… but her helmet would muffle it, let alone the fact that inside it a bolted in rod prevented her jaw from moving. So she stared at Amanda, thinking of how to answer her… before turning to the wall with the sword in her hand, and slashing it across the painted brickwork multiple times in different directions, until the marks spelled out the initials _'L.D'_. And Amanda looked at it and thought… before she figured out what they meant.

Liviana Diesel. Her first and middle names.

Liviana backed up and deactivated the sword when she saw Finn with the shotgun before it was handed to Hunter and Finn helped Amanda up to her feet, one hand on her back and the other on the side of her face with her hands braced on his arms.

"Did that thing hurt you?!" Finn questioned, Liviana tilting her head down a bit… hearing it made her only more certain that to their view, a 'thing' was all she was now.

"It's Liviana." Amanda whispered, Liviana looking up at them as they looked at her.

"What happened to you? Who did this to you?" Finn asked, Liviana only glancing towards the wall for a second before looking back to him. "You… can you speak?" He questioned, Liviana looking down again with a slight shake of her head.

Amanda tried to stand up, Finn not letting her.

"Livi…" Hunter said, Liviana looking up at him and the look clearly said _"I'm sorry."_.

Liviana stepped over to him, briefly placing her hand on Hunter's shoulder before stepping past and standing by the window, looking outside… she wanted to see the beauty, the blue sky and green trees, even the grey concrete of the roads… but all she could see was computerized red outlines on a black background, with numerous lines of text flashing and scrolling over her right eye.

"Get her to the medics." Hunter whispered, Finn helping Amanda up and noticed that she was cradling her left hand to her body… carefully pulling her right hand back when they were in the other room, he saw that her thumb was bruised and cut open.

"Damn it, what happened?!" Enzo asked as he ran to them with one of the doctors following him.

"Liviana's back… but she's not herself." Amanda answered once she was stretched out on the examination table and her thumb was being checked on.

"It's like… she's trapped in this suit, she can't talk… she's almost robotic." Finn added.

"Who or what did that-" Enzo started to ask, jumping slightly when Amanda screamed out as her thumb was moved and Finn held her right hand in his left one.

When it was stitched up, it was x-rayed… nothing was broken but at the same time, Liv Morgan had walked into the room and reeled back in a startled manner.

"You were right about that loud thud!" Liv shouted down the hall, Colin running to her.

"Damn, who the hell jumped you kiddo?!" Colin asked once he saw Amanda.

"I'll explain that… when I stop feeling pain." Amanda answered as Finn held her close to him. "There goes my match tonight… but I'm still heading out there for yours and Joe's, you guys worked so damn hard in this tournament." She whispered.

"I wouldn't blame you for it… but take it easy while you do." Finn said… Before the two heard the echoes of a synthetic sounding voice coming from Hunter's office.

"Kill me?! Why?!" Hunter asked, Liviana holding his phone on which he'd downloaded and brought up an app with many different buttons on it, each one a word which would be played through the speakers.

"Alter. Time. Collapse. Company." Liviana tapped out, the voice playing sounding emotionless, every sound spoken in the same tone.

"Liviana…" Hunter said, Liviana repeating her actions.

"Can't. Do. It. Though… You. Mean. Too. Much. To. Them."

"What are you gonna do then?" Hunter asked.

"Get. Free." Liviana tapped, before looking down, her helmet only allowing her to look enough to see her feet. "I. Feel. Much…" She stopped there… But Hunter saw her thumb shakily suspended over the button 'pain'.

"Pain…" Hunter said, helping her sit down.

"Go. Check. On… Mandy." Liviana tapped, Hunter doing so.

"She's hurting…" Amanda managed to say once she was stood up, Finn's right arm wrapped around her back and her thumb bandaged.

"Very much… I don't know what we can do about this one…" Hunter responded.

"Keep her hidden until we figure a way to help…" Amanda said as they hugged for a few seconds, Amanda cringing slightly as she stepped back as the painkillers hadn't set in yet.

By the time that the match was scheduled to start, Amanda was feeling better when the pain edged off and leaned against the wall, hearing the roar of the crowd as Finn rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Think she'll be okay back here? Maybe watching the show will help her relax a bit." Amanda said quietly.

"Might do… Knowing her though, she probably already knows how this event will end." Finn replied.

 _ **Balor/Joe vs Lucha Dragons…**_

"Well we were supposed to start off tonight with Amanda vs Bayley but there was an altercation backstage that left Amanda injured. Bayley, you're out here watching with us, any ideas on what could've happened to your friend?" Tom Phillips responded as the match progressed.

"I can't be sure exactly, but one thing I do know is that it takes a lot to get Amanda to really fight someone, out of the ring. Whatever did go on, someone really must've pushed it way too far." Bayley replied, not about to give any indication that she actually knew about Liviana and what happened in Hunter's office.

"That's an understatement, she's not standing straight up-" Corey starts to say.

Amanda jumped back as Kalisto jumped through the middle and top ropes, launching himself at Joe. The match spilled to the other side and eventually back into the ring.

"How the hell would someone stop Samoa Joe?" Tom asked.

"You don't, that man is a wrecking machine in the ring." Bayley answered with a slight laugh.

When Finn tagged himself in and jumped off the top rope, both his feet connected with Sin Cara's torso with a little too much force than intended. After the pin, the fans cheered and Amanda and Finn hugged tightly… but she let out a low hiss as the hug was too tight.

In the backstage area, Amanda had calmed down from the adrenaline a lot faster than she intended and was leaned against the wall, Finn rubbing one hand up and down her back while the other was resting on her right shoulder as Bayley and Joe reached them.

"Just checked on her, she's still quiet." Bayley said softly.

Amanda nodded as she sat down, closing her eyes for a few seconds and taking a deep breath.

"Can you take me back to the hotel, please?" Amanda asked after looking at Finn.

"Yeah, of course…" Finn responded, brushing his hand up and down her upper left arm before looking at Bayley. "Any idea… Why she won't talk?"

"Hunter and the doctor examined her during the match… They think that the helmet has some sort of attachment that's locked her jaw shut, but it's metal means they can't use an x-ray to be sure." Bayley replied.

"Damn machine would either scramble the scan or lock her to it by her helmet." Joe said as Finn picked Amanda up into his arms.

Back at the hotel, Amanda was helped to the bed after a hot shower and getting into her pajamas.

"And I thought getting slammed into a steel cage was painful…" Amanda whispered.

"When did that happen again?" Finn asked after sitting down.

"I was just about 20 years old… it was at a live event, Wade Barrett was scripted to do so. I told him I'd be okay… but he used too much force and broke three of my ribs. John was royally pissed off… it was weeks before Wade could walk without a limp." Amanda answered.

"He understood though… you don't hurt someone's little sibling and get away without a beating inflicted on you." Finn said as he stretched out.

"Randy got a much worse beating once…" Amanda said quietly.

"At the… end of your relationship." Finn said, Amanda nodding slightly.

"The scar on my upper back… it was from him shoving me into a mirror. When John found out, he nearly killed him." Amanda answered as she tried to turn towards him but nearly screamed as pain shot through her bruised back. When she managed to, his hand was immediately on her back and rubbing it to take the pain away. "I was really young… it was hard to walk away, he was the first guy I loved. But we weren't healthy for each other… we needed to be away from that toxicity." She whispers after a few seconds.

Out in the hallway, Liviana stopped when she heard footsteps and looked, seeing Carmella.

"Li… Livi?" Carmella managed to ask. "H… hey, it's alright…" She said when Liviana took a couple of steps back.

Carmella stepped carefully towards the trapped girl ahead, Liviana relaxing a bit once she felt Carmella's hand on her shoulder, though it was only the pressure through the suit that she did feel.

Liviana pointed to the door and then lowered her hand, Carmella knowing that Liviana was worried about Amanda after what had happened.

"Mandy's gonna be okay." Carmella said quietly, the two heading down the hallway.


	5. Faded Memories

When Amanda opened her eyes the next morning, she found herself in Finn's arms and looked up at him as he brushed her hair away from her face… at some point in the middle of the night, she had started talking in her sleep and it worried him.

In her nightmarish state, Amanda had been witnessing Liviana being put in that suit and had been helpless to prevent it.

"It's alright… we'll all help her get out of this, then we'll all find who did it to her." Finn said quietly, having made out many of Amanda's words to be about Liviana.

Amanda nodded and tried to pull herself up, letting out a cry when the pain prevented her from doing so.

Out in the hallway, Enzo's head snapped up when he heard it and put his phone back by his ear to finish his conversation with Dean.

"Was that Mandy?" Dean asked.

"Sounded like it… you know she's injured, she most likely moved wrongly." Enzo responded.

"Damn… you all have a few days off, maybe take her back to Florida with you so she can rest?" Dean questioned.

"Now you know what she'll say to that… and something kind of crazy happened yesterday and the night before yesterday." Enzo answered, Dean becoming curious.

"What exactly?" Dean questioned.

"Well, most of us were drugged, Mandy and Balor included… and when we were at the arena, Liviana attacked Hunter. When Mandy tried to stop it, she got slammed into the wall." Enzo responded, Dean nearly dropping his phone.

"Livi?! Why would she attack Hunter?!" Dean said after a few moments of recomposing himself.

"Someone kidnapped her and turned her into an assassin basically… when we get the helmet off, we're gonna figure out who-" Enzo said, cut off by the lamp in the nearby room crashing and Amanda saying "Hotel security's gonna be pissed.".

"It was accidental, it can be replaced." Finn said as he helped her lie back down before answering the door and letting Enzo in.

"Dean called." Enzo said after the door was closed.

"Hey Deano." Amanda called out once the phone was on speaker.

"Hey, Mandy… is all alright? Enzo told me about Liviana…" Dean responded.

"I was trying to get up to go find her… but everything hurts." Amanda said, carefully stretching her legs before she heard Dean talking to someone in the background.

"Wait, what?! And what about Livi?!"

"Calm down, Rollins, she'll be okay." Dean said.

"And keep your head screwed on, we'll fix this." Enzo replied.

"Better well do! Otherwise I'm getting involved, and then it gets brutal!" Seth said angrily.

The two hung up and Amanda bit on the corner of her mouth, Finn stopping her.

"Last time things got brutal, he nearly killed Alex." Amanda said after managing to stand up… and seeing the keys in Enzo's hand. "Uh, where are we going? You never got the chance to tell us yesterday."

"It's a surprise." Enzo said.

When the three were ready and on the road, Amanda felt the pain jolt through her as every few minutes, Enzo hit something and then shouted "Fuck, sorry!" until Finn slammed his own arm into the back of the driver's seat and forced him to pull over.

"Enzo… did you ever take a driving course?" Amanda asked shakily.

"Yes…" Enzo answered.

"Your license got suspended again, didn't it?" Amanda asked as she stayed near Finn, Enzo nodding reluctantly.

"Out, I'll drive." Finn said, helping Amanda into the passenger seat as Enzo got into the back, their doors closing. "If Livi was only here… she handles any vehicle like it's her second skin." He said as he settled into the driver's seat and belted up.

"Yeah…" Amanda said quietly as Finn drove, Enzo seeing a text from Colin.

' _You got kicked out of the driver's seat again, didn't you?'_

' _On top of nearly giving Mandy a heart attack…'_ Enzo replied.

The boardwalk was quiet with the usual tourists, Amanda looking back out at the lighthouse after finishing her iced coffee.

At the nearby hotdog stand, Enzo noticed how quiet Finn and Amanda were and glanced at Colin.

"I think Livi was trying to reach out to them that night…" Enzo said.

"She does know the future… maybe she was reaching to them. But… I don't think that she could've seen all of this coming, somewhere, someone changed something." Colin replied.

"Yeah. What I want to know is how the hell we all got drugged, I've bought liquor from that store countless times." Enzo responded after taking a bite of the hotdog.

"I… I remembered something." Colin admitted.

 _ **Two nights ago…**_

" _Enzo, you know Mandy rarely drinks tequila." Colin said after seeing the bottle of Jose Cuervo on the counter at the register._

" _Where the hell did she and Finn slip off to anyway?" Enzo questioned, looking for the two._

" _I don't know, I didn't see what way they went…" Colin said, neither of them able to see the two anywhere in their visual range._

 _Outside, Amanda was being a bit silly after drinking some of the beer and climbed up onto the railing, Finn pulling her off of it as she was about to dive back first into the water._

" _Hey, I've jumped off higher than this!" Amanda said in slight protest._

" _Famous last words, they are." Finn responded, placing her feet back on the ground._

 _Amanda looked around after she took a breath… and saw someone in the store swap the bottle of tequila with another one, Finn seeing the confused look on her face and wrapping his hand around her wrist._

" _Any reason why someone would switch one bottle with another if neither are broken or the lid's still sealed?" Amanda asked as in the store, Enzo picked up the bottle without him or Colin noticing what had happened._

 _Before she could get an answer, Colin and Enzo walked over to them._

 _Reaching the bonfire, Baron saw them and set the snacks down as Amanda downed one shot of tequila down after convincing herself it was okay… but she coughed slightly, Finn patting her on her back and Colin noticing some drops of blood on the glass._

" _The hell… Mandy, you okay?" Colin questioned._

" _Yeah… I guess that cut on the inside of my mouth isn't healed fully." Amanda answered, still a bit ticked that Kevin had hit her two days ago…_

 **Present time…**

"Oh damn, I do remember that… but it was just a small cut in her mouth, right?" Enzo questioned.

"Yeah, small split where her teeth had bitten the inside of her cheek as Kevin gave her that whack." Colin answered.

"Maybe drinking that night wasn't such a good idea… she doesn't bleed for too long." Enzo said.

"The drugs slipped into the liquor, you think they could've caused the bleeding?" Colin asked.

"Reaction to them… may have weakened the clotting in the vessels, that would've made it bleed. Especially since you don't get scabs on the inside of your mouth, or any soft tissue." Enzo said.

Out under the pier, Amanda and Finn got a closer view of the lighthouse but then the fog started to set in.

"Aw, fuck." Amanda muttered, Finn lightly pinching her.

"Watch the language, Mandy." Finn said, Amanda shaking her head before they carefully made their way to the others.

"Nothing suspicious?" Enzo asked.

"The lights they use to guide boats were being switched on but nothing out of the ordinary… if someone were looking for Livi, I don't know if they'd start at the lighthouse right away." Amanda answered.

Heading back to the hotel, the group found Liviana and Hunter, who quickly stopped Liviana as she was trying to pry her helmet off.

"Hey, easy. You might hurt your neck." Hunter said softly.

Liviana noticed Amanda and then looked at Hunter as if to ask how Amanda was after last night.

"She's okay, just bruised." Hunter answered.

"She's… scared." Liviana tapped out on her communicator.

"She is…" Hunter said, before Finn, Amanda and Enzo walked over towards them while Colin dropped things off in their rooms.

"Livi…" Amanda said, Liviana turning to her and seeing the teeth marks.

"Any. Idea. Who… Drugged. You?" Liviana tapped.

"No one's admitted to it yet…" Enzo answered.

Amanda thought back to the night of the Raw event before the cameras started.


	6. The Signs

_**9/7/15…**_

 _Blood was an indicator of something either having been split open or internal bleeding… and Kevin Owens started freaking out as Amanda coughed up a few drops of blood when Finn helped her up._

" _You could've pulled back a bit on that punch… damn." Amanda managed to say._

" _I'm sorry, I…" Kevin apologized, trying to touch her but Finn glared at him and he stepped back. "Finn, it wasn't intentional!"_

" _Back off before I beat you to a damn pulp." Finn growled, taking Amanda to the backstage area and neither noticing Liviana in the crowd._

 _It was in the backstage area when Liviana found Roman._

" _Where is she?" Liviana asked._

" _Trainer's office, getting her mouth looked at… it looks like she might've just bit down on the inside of it as a way of bracing herself for the hit." Roman answered._

" _I have something that I can't put off for long, that's why I came here to tell Mandy… can you find her and tell her that's once it's over, I'll be back?" Liviana asked._

" _Yeah, I can do that… what's going on?" Roman answered._

" _Nothing, just… business I've got to handle… a couple centuries away." Liviana responded._

" _Okay, just be safe." Roman said before they hugged. When Liviana had left, Roman found Amanda and Finn and jumped slightly when Amanda let out a muffled scream as Dr. Amann examined the cut in her mouth._

" _Why do people always go right for the face during a fight?" Amanda asked in an angered tone._

" _I suppose it's the background, baseline instinct of a person, the head is the weakest spot… you look at animals, fighting for territory or mates, they always go for the heads too." Dr. Amann replied._

" _Is anything broken, any teeth loosened?" Roman asked._

" _Little bit of a chip out of one, nothing big enough to call for attention… though that split in the inside cheek is a bit worrying." Dr. Amann answered._

" _I don't normally bleed too easily." Amanda said as Finn wrapped his hands around her left one._

" _You had your wisdom teeth pulled, right Mandy?" Finn asked._

" _Yeah, when I was 19." Amanda answered as in the back of her mouth near the cut, an old scar was visible. "Okay, so there was a bit of difficulty removing the upper one on the left."_

" _So your tissue will be weaker there." Dr. Amann added._

" _I didn't notice anything off until about six months after that when Michelle hit me during a match and I was coughing up blood… I've tried to protect that part of my head from getting hit." Amanda admitted…_

 **Present time…**

"That. Explains… The. Bleeding. Being. Worse." Liviana tapped.

"It's why I try to protect my head more than I used to during matches…" Amanda said… and Liviana responded in a way that surprised Amanda a bit, jokingly knocking on her helmet.

"Protect the heads in any way… we've already had issues with concussions and head injuries." Hunter said.

"Speaking of concussions, how's Viktor holding up?" Amanda asked, remembering how hard Viktor got hit with the chair last week.

"He should be back soon." Hunter answered as Amanda heard her phone chime and saw a text from Aestrid.

' _You feeling okay?'_

' _Holding up okay. How are the others, they driving you crazy?'_ Amanda replied.

' _They have all just lost it, Mandy. After Wayne decided it'd be a good idea to walk in on Liara and Ty being quite active in bed, everybody's spiralling. As though Ty and Lia weren't obvious enough already.'_

"They're gonna kill Wayne one of these days." Amanda said with a slight laugh.

In the hotel room later, Amanda sent out a video call to Wayne… when he answered it, he had a black eye.

"Liara punch you or whack you with a led pipe?" Amanda asked.

"Both, but the punch was to the ribs!" Wayne said, one hand rubbing his chest for a moment.

"I told you she can get angry." Amanda responded, Wayne noticing the scabbed over teeth marks as Amanda's hair was in a messy bun.

"So can Finn, it looks like." Wayne said jokingly.

"Uh… we were both drugged, things got a bit intense and then cut off as Sasha caught us in the elevator." Amanda admitted, Val hearing that as she walked into the background of Wayne's tablet and then walked to the screen. "Hey, Val."

"Mandy!" Val said with a smile. "Handful of words for you… drugged mistakes, sober desires."

"We weren't the only ones, somehow, Carmella and Colin nearly got jailed for indecent exposure as well as starting a damn brawl." Amanda said, Val and Wayne laughing.

"Hey… them and you, perfect trio." Val said, nudging Wayne and making him drop his head down with his hand over his face, Val looking to Amanda. "This dude right here got caught the other day by a cop, draining his pecker over the edge of a bridge."

"Wayne, what the fuck? You know, I think you're smoking too much." Amanda responded after she and Wayne laughed.

"Nah, not me. If anyone's smoking, it's Ty and his damn vape thing, breathing out all that exotic fruity steam." Wayne said.

"That stuff's rare to find at the smoke shops!" Ty shouted from the kitchen.

"We'll be back in another day or so but we got something that needs to be said in person… get your fingers off my spine!" Amanda said, the last part directed at Finn as he was tickling her to get her attention after walking in.

"We'll let you go then, alright? See you in a couple of days." Val said.

The call ended and Amanda set her IPad down as Finn stretched out next to her and rested his hand on her right arm.

"Liviana still trying to pull the helmet off?" Amanda asked.

"Bit more than that… she _did_ get it off, at least half of it. It sorta split just above her nose, but her eyes and hair are out… and she's way too damn pale." Finn answered.

"I'm not even sure I want to know what the hell they did to her… she was scared, I can tell that… who's sick enough to torture people and turn them into assassins?" Amanda managed to say as she rested her head on Finn's right shoulder.

"I can only guess it's someone from within her time travel… but to give you the slightest idea of what Amann found… she can't talk because in the bottom of the helmet, there's a little rod in there… and it's attached into her and it's bolted her jaw shut." Finn said, his arms around her as he said the last bit.

"If this were in any way like a chain, I'd use bolt cutters… they had to do that once to cut the cell open after it was lowered to the ground in 2011." Amanda responded, stretching her back for a few seconds.

"I remember watching it… half the audience thought it was hilarious." Finn said.

"It stopped being hilarious… I know you were watching from halfway across the globe, remember that tiny person in the Hustle, Loyalty and Respect hoodie that tasered Mike and Ron?" Amanda asked, Finn looking at her in slight shock. "I wasn't told about it before the match, I thought John, Punk and Alberto were in real trouble…" She admitted, Finn unable to keep from laughing.

"You grabbed a taser gun and zapped your friends senseless? Remind me never to piss you off, love." Finn said after he had stopped laughing.

"The guys on the creative team then really had it out for a lot of us…" Amanda responds after standing up, stumbling slightly and Finn standing up and catching her… but both had fallen to the bed, Amanda straddling Finn as he had braced himself against the headboard.

"Oh lord… and we both have legs that hold upright like slugs." Finn said jokingly.

"Yeah…" Amanda says as her face turned a light scarlet when his hands lightly squeezed her hips… before they could act any further, someone was banging their fist against the door and as it turned out, it was John.

"Somebody open up this door!" John called out.

"He's gonna fucking flip!" Amanda whispered… but John had heard her anyway.

"Mandy, open this door!" John said, Amanda managing to pull herself up and walking to the door on shaky legs. She opened it, her and John hugging.

"Hunter call you?" Amanda asked after they let go.

"Yeah, told me about Liviana and about you lot being drugged." John replied.

"It's been a crazy few days and the tour's only half through." Amanda said as she saw a few others emerge from their rooms, having heard the noise.

"Everything okay down there?" Bayley asked, having attempted to catch up on some sleep.

"Yeah, everything's alright, Bayley." Amanda answered, her voice a bit croaky and flustered sounding.

But it wasn't fooling anyone and she knew that.


	7. Blurred

_**9/24/06, ECW/SmackDown tapings…**_

" _You scared the absolute fuck out of me tonight, you crazy bastard!"_

 _Bob 'Hardcore' Holly's head snapped up when he heard that and his blue green eyes locked with the hazel brown ones that belonged to the newest member of the WWE rosters._

 _All of 5'1", long light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, him knowing that the hair would be a few shades darker in a few years... and from his guess, Amanda weighed somewhere between 103 to 106 pounds. She was in her fuchsia leopard print ring outfit and in Bob's opinion, she had too much makeup on._

 _The Alabama native pulled himself up to where he was standing, the 24 stitches tugging into his back… here was a girl nearing adulthood yet she already had the foul mouthed attitude of a college student in a weird combination with the wiseness of an Attitude Era veteran._

 _Was it really just four years ago that he was being carted out on a stretcher and asked the paramedics to stop when he saw a frightened Amanda, reach over and lightly pinched her young face, telling her that he'd be okay and she shouldn't worry?_

 _That young girl had seemingly disappeared overnight… and the blonde knew it the second he had woken up early last week and found her incredibly sore in a way he felt that she was too inexperienced to face yet._

" _I should take you over my knee and give you a spanking for your language… but you have every right to be scared after what happened." Hardcore responded, the two of them hugging for a few seconds and he saw the purple lipstick on her mouth._

" _I'm not used to being scared, Bob… you know that." Amanda said._

" _I know, kiddo… and you're washing that stuff off your face before you leave the building tonight!" Hardcore said, laughing a bit when Amanda playfully shoved him before heading down the hallway._

 _He couldn't help but smile though, feeling proud that she was already career focused… but a part of him felt a bit sad._

" _They always grow up… before I know it, she'll have a family of her own." Hardcore said quietly after walking back into his locker room and closing the door._

 _Amanda stopped and took a deep breath, readjusting her low cut leopard print ring top before looking in the nearby… she was starting to see it from Bob's perspective, the makeup did age her significantly._

' _Why do I feel the need to try to look older?' Amanda thought, tempted to go back to her locker room and scrub her makeup off… but she wouldn't have enough time, her match was up next._

" _Hey." Amanda heard, looked and saw Tommy Dreamer walk over to her, Tommy a bit startled at how she looked… but he patted her on her back anyway and smiled. "Good luck out there, kiddo. Make us old folks proud." Tommy replied, the two hugging for a few minutes before he left._

 _A new generation in a decades old business was rising… and she was one of the first ones in that new generation._

 _As she walked down the hallway, her eyes widened when she saw him and immediately, Amanda ducked behind a production crate as Kevin looked around._

" _Did you hear that?" Kevin asked after turning back to Arn Anderson._

" _Probably just one of the rookies tripping over something." Arn responded._

 _Amanda carefully re-tied her ring boots before she stood up, Kevin jumping back slightly as he didn't think she was behind the crate but he chuckled._

" _Good one, kiddo." Kevin said._

" _How have you been lately?" Amanda asked, absentmindedly readjusted her leopard print ring top as it had bunched up a bit when she hid._

" _Good as one can be… were you hiding from me?" Kevin responded._

" _Yeah… look, I'm not sure if you've noticed but I can still sense that things unintentionally get tense at times…" Amanda said, starting to ramble a bit but Kevin got her to sit down. "I really hope you don't hate me for feeling like that…"_

" _Hate you, why would I? You're older now, you start to pick up on these things and it's confusing at times." Kevin said._

" _Do you still love Nancy? In any way? I know she still talks about you, the good times you two had when you were younger." Amanda responded._

" _As a friend, yeah… but we can't change things." Kevin answered as they stood up._

" _Bit nervous to go out there now, first match on live Tv. Do I look alright or should I go scrub this stuff off my face, does it make me look too aged?" Amanda said, Kevin lightly patting her on her shoulder with a reassuring smile._

" _You'll be great out there… every one of us has had those first match nerves." Kevin responded before they hugged and Amanda left…_

 **Present time, A few days later…**

It was when they were leaving a Starbucks in Orlando that Amanda looked across the parking lot and Finn saw her tense up, resting a hand on her back when he saw that she had seen Kevin Sullivan.

"You two know each other?" Finn asked.

"We just haven't spoken in a long time… there's no anger between him and me directly, it's just hard to talk to Kevin Sullivan at times. I know he loved Nancy, I just… I can't understand why he never said goodbye or goes to where she's buried to..." Amanda answered, Finn wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her right shoulder.

"Sometimes… some people can't bear to acknowledge that someone's gone. I've seen it before, love… someone separating themselves from all memorials of a loved one, so that some tiny part of them can still believe that they're still alive somewhere." Finn responded.

Amanda rested her forehead against Finn's mouth and he lightly kissed it in response… everything in the span of the past few days had them all on edge, they wanted to relax before the next set of NXT tapings as well as the main roster shows.

Back at home, Amanda and Finn set their things down, having also picked up a few things from Walgreens.

"Upstairs, second drawer… I moved a few things around but there should be a clean Balor Club shirt you can use after you get cleaned off. Our clothes need to go into the washer." Finn said after the two had hugged, Amanda heading upstairs after kissing him on his jaw and neck.

Amanda shaved her arms, legs and underarms after stripping down and reminded herself to book an appointment to get waxed again. Washing her makeup off, she slipped into the shower and turned the water on and adjusted it to a medium temperature.

Amanda had gotten her hair cut to just below her collarbone before leaving Providence so it was easier to manage now… when it was soaked, she ran some Dove conditioner through it before rinsing it out, scrubbing her skin clean with a Japanese Blossom scented body wash.

Dried off after and in a pair of white satin hiphugger panties and a Balor Club shirt on over that after using Dove antiperspirant spray, Amanda fixed up her nails with Essie's Sole Mate before using a hair dryer to dry the polish and washing her hands with the body soap and spraying some air freshener after turning the hair dryer off, unplugging it and setting it aside as Finn walked into the room.

"Nothing beats being home… I'm gonna go get cleaned up myself." Finn said after he regained control of his voice, heading into the bathroom after kissing Amanda on the corner of her mouth.

Amanda headed downstairs and closed her eyes.

' _Get it together, both of you!'_ Amanda thought, scolding herself as her face was a light red now judging from the heat she could feel in it.

Finn Balor definitely knew how to get Amanda Cena's blood running, just like she knew how to get his running… and both damn well knew it.

When he was back downstairs, he was only in pajama pants and their clothes were in the washing machine. The two sat down to watch _Miami Vice_ and she leaned against him as the DJ of the nightclub ended up blowing Rico's cover.

"Now that's just damn wrong to do." Amanda said.

"Yep. The only one from New York he wasn't really on bitter terms with at this point in the series was Valerie." Finn replied.

"The events of Too Much, Too Late really wrecked things for them…" Amanda responded as Finn lightly ran the fingers on his right hand through her tousled curls.

They still had no idea who had done the mass drugging but had a feeling it was tied into what had happened to Liviana… and hoped they could get the answers they needed when that helmet was completely off.


End file.
